Education

Yellow journals, faded ideas

Article Abstract:

Much emphasis is placed by academics on having work published in learned journals, it often being felt that appointments and promotions are affected by publication rate. In Italy, for example, some journals publish work by members of staff or other associates specifically to improve promotion prospects. For high-profile journals such as History, the ratio of submissions to acceptances can be as high as 10 to one, while others such as Historical Journal have a ratio of around four to one. Many manuscripts are rejected due simply to lack of space or oversubscription of subjects. Refereeing of papers is an area where ignorance, prejudice and spite abound.

Bewitched, bothered and bewildered

Article Abstract:

Keith Thomas's esteemed work 'Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century England,' published in 1971, is still frequently referred to in learned journals. Thomas implied that present researchers are advanced in their logical arguments by revealing the gullibility of earlier writers. The historian has been awarded three honorary doctorates a knighthood, and the occupancy of the president's lodge of one of the Oxford colleges.

The saga of nationalism

Article Abstract:

Epic poetry was revived in the Middle Ages, the first one of that era appearing about the year 1500. They are often seen as attempting to revive nationalism. The 19th century saw many epic poems by writers such as Lord Tennyson, Robert Browning and Victor Hugo. Epic poems were used to revive the literature of some eastern European cultures such as Estonia, Finland and Czechoslovakia.